Smoke curled up from the small iron stove in the corner. Hao San'er had been staring blankly into the distance for so long that he didn't even realize his weathered hand was touching the hot metal until the searing pain finally hit him. He yelped in shock, clutching his reddened hand to his chest, but he still couldn't take his eyes off Hao Yunlai. The boy had just jolted up from under the heavy quilts. To Hao San'er, that wasn't just a man waking up from a long slumber—it was a demon crawling out from the eighteenth level of hell!
And behind the boy, the old man could see them. They were the people Hao San'er least wanted to see in this world—his mother, who had died in a pool of blood while giving birth to him; his second brother, who had choked to death on a bit of meat; his eldest brother, who had died in agony from holding in his piss; his third sister, who had drowned in the filth of a cesspit; and his father, whose chest had been crushed flat by a heavy cow. Every single one of them was back. They all glared at him with cold, vicious eyes that promised no mercy.
Hao San'er stumbled backward and collapsed onto the hard ground. Terror flooded his pale face. They were back. His whole damned family had come back from the grave!
Hao Yunlai clutched his head and kicked his legs violently against the mattress. The fresh stitches on his body tore open again under the strain, blood spurting out as if he were being tortured by something invisible and unbearable. Yang Yang rushed forward to hold him down to the bed, but he was thrown across the room by a sudden burst of strength.
Jing Shu didn't hesitate for a second. She grabbed a heavy wooden box nearby and smashed it straight down on Hao Yunlai's head. The world went dead silent in an instant. Blood trickled down his forehead as she pulled out a few black pellets and pressed them firmly on the new wound.
Yang Yang just stood there, catching his breath. "Seriously? The guy finally woke up, and she went and knocked him out again. What kind of logic was that?"
"It's fine. Looks like my method is working. He just needs a few more days of rest," Jing Shu said, sounding pleased with the result. She reached for her needle and sewed up the torn stitches on his shoulder again, remaining calm as ever.
"Really?" Yang Yang's tone was full of deep doubt.
"As long as nothing unexpected happens," she said confidently. Though in truth, Hao Yunlai's body would likely experience the same lingering trauma her own body did—the phantom pain he felt before dying would linger in his nerves for quite a while. It was much better for him to be unconscious than awake through all that agony.
The gloomy house felt creepy as hell. Jing Shu could feel invisible eyes watching her from every dark corner of the room. After leaving a few more black pellets for Hao Yunlai, she hurried out of the front door with Yang Yang. Neither of them paid any attention to Hao San'er, who had gone pale and was now pointing, trembling, toward an empty corner of the room. Yang Yang followed his shaking finger a few times, his brow furrowing. "Is there something over there?"
"Probably just Hao Yunlai's whole family coming up to say hi," Jing Shu joked.
She had planned to check on the construction site she had marked earlier, but her mind was full of the newly expanded Spirit Spring. She couldn't wait anymore to see it. She went straight home, locked herself in her bedroom, and got ready to test the substance. She needed to know what exactly the Spirit Spring converted from that crimson crystal could do for her.
She carefully placed the withered tree—the only known converter she possessed—back into the crimson liquid. It was the only method she knew for stabilizing the energy, so she had to treat it with extreme care.
The faintly reddish Spirit Spring was about the size of her fist. She guessed it weighed only a few hundred grams—it was precious and rare. To avoid wasting a single drop, she diluted it into five different glass vials with varying concentrations, labeling them carefully from Crimson No.1 through No.5. As usual, Crimson No.1 was the strongest of the batch.
Her five test subjects were seaweed, red nematodes, a newly planted orange tree, a rooster, and—well, the fifth one she hadn't found yet. She figured once Hao Yunlai woke up, he could help test its effects.
Just like with the first Spirit Spring, her goal was to see how the diluted versions affected different living things and whether any special reactions appeared. Then she could compare the data with her previous results and figure out what made this specific Spirit Spring unique.
After filling out the testing table, all she had to do was wait for the results. She stretched her arms lazily, the muscles in her back popping as she felt good now that most of the difficult Hao Yunlai situation was handled. She drew a neat line through the sixth task on her written plan.
Next, she needed to visit Xingfu Shiyuan to collect her dividends. The place was expanding rapidly under Qian Duoduo, and she had to stay updated on its progress. It wouldn't be long before that future tyrant tried to seize control of it, and she needed to be ready a year and a half ahead of schedule.
She had worked so hard to save Xingfu Shiyuan; there was no way she would let Qian Duoduo just sit back and relax. Speaking of the man, there was also the matter of the ZS10 synthetic meat project to consider. She decided to talk to him about it first. At this stage, rich folks like Qian Duoduo were far more capable of producing synthetic meat anyway. The government had bigger problems to deal with—like figuring out how to feed the remaining three million people in Wu City.
Of course, she had another reason for seeking him out. Everyone knew Xingfu Shiyuan was built from sturdy stone, and the stones there were finely processed—perfect for construction. She was already thinking ahead to the fourth year, when mudslides would become a real threat to the villa. She planned to request a batch of high-grade special stones to prepare in advance.
"Task eleven: Go to Xingfu Shiyuan for dividends, talk to Qian Duoduo about the synthetic meat project, and discuss the stone supply."
Jing Shu's stomach gave a loud growl. She went downstairs to find some food. Xiao Dou was in the yard, clucking loudly while teaching the two little black chickens where they weren't allowed to poop.
Inside the villa, Grandma Jing was busy processing the fresh ingredients Jing Shu had brought home, pickling vegetables in jars and drying others into preserved greens. She even smoked and marinated various meats to keep them from spoiling in the heat. In these dark times, they couldn't stop storing up food.
After three years of drinking Spirit Spring water, her grandparents looked healthier than ever. Their faces were rosy, and though the wrinkles remained on their skin, they seemed frozen in time.
It turned out the Spirit Spring didn't make people younger—it just maintained their current physical condition. Jing Shu and Su Lanzhi also looked about the same as when they had first started drinking it, but their health and skin had improved so much they looked younger anyway.
Jing Shu munched on freshly made takoyaki, savoring every hot bite. She savored the texture of the crisp outer shell and the tender octopus inside, mixed with the cabbage, the salty seaweed, and the papery bonito flakes. All of it made her feel warm and happy. But she couldn't help wincing a little too as she chewed. The octopus she was using was from her frozen stock, and those supplies were running low. She hadn't thought to raise any in her space before the apocalypse began. If she ever got the chance, she would raise some of every kind of creature she could.
In the backyard, the German MAN RV sat quietly in the safest corner, far enough that even a big earthquake wouldn't crush it. Grandpa Jing was busy tidying the yard and sketching out new plans. Once he was done, he would start building a sealed backyard area.
The mountain behind them was mostly rock, and so was the soil in the backyard. If they wanted to grow crops there, they would have to till the hard ground. But for now, he wasn't planning to do that. For once, he and Jing Shu agreed—they would raise more chickens instead.
She kept chewing her takoyaki while feeling the light tremors of the occasional quake and hearing thunder rumble in the distance. She thought about how to reinforce the backyard defenses. After the fourth year, the government's food reserves would run out, and people would be starving everywhere. Anyone who saw food would go feral with hunger. If the villa's backyard wasn't secure, they would be in serious trouble.
Just as that thought crossed her mind, a blinding white light flashed across the heavy sky, leaving everyone momentarily blind.
Her heart skipped a beat.
That was the sign.
The great earthquake was coming.